


for all that you do

by owlvsdove



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Mother's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 08:06:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3201773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlvsdove/pseuds/owlvsdove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Did you drug me?” is the first thing May thinks to say.</p>
            </blockquote>





	for all that you do

Melinda May wakes to find three of her agents watching her sleep. This is terrifying, on top of the reasonable  _why are you watching me sleep_ level, because she is, well, _Melinda May._ She should’ve woken up at the first sign of disturbance. And frankly it’s suspect that she didn’t.

The three agents in question are the originals. The kids. Jemma, waving happily if not a touch hesitantly; Fitz, carrying a tray and looking earnest; and Skye, with a determined look on her face that is rather frightening to May at this hour.

“Did you drug me?” is the first thing May thinks to say.

“Of course not!” Jemma shrieks.

May gives her a long stare.

“ _Technically_ , I replaced your nightly chamomile with a sleepy-time blend of my own invention,” Jemma says instantly, cracking under very slight pressure. She can’t really lie to May. Or anyone. “I would  _never_ drug you. Unless you asked.”

“For what purpose, Simmons?” May says, teeth gritting.

“We knew this was the only way to surprise you,” Skye says before belly-flopping onto the bed with precision. Hence the determined face.

May sighs as the bed bounces. “I don’t like surprises.”

“We know,” Fitz says. “But this is a good surprise.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” she responds challengingly.

Fitz, with his regularly shaking hands, sets the tray down in her lap.

Tea and toast. And a little yellow flower in a cup.

Oh, good lord.

“What day is it?” she asks in monotone.

“Mother’s Day,” Skye says, faux-offhandedly, rolling on the bed to face the ceiling and blowing her bangs out of her eyes.

“Except we’re not calling it that,” Jemma says quickly. “Because  _I_  knew you wouldn’t like it!”

“Yeah,” Fitz says. “It’s May Day. Meaning  _you,_ May, not because it’s the month of May.”

“Who’s idea was this?”

“In order?” Skye says. “Jem, then me, then Fitz. Fitz is only last though because when Simmons said  _we should do something for May_ , he said  _you mean like fly the Bus?_ ”

May spares Fitz an admonishing glance before continuing her line of questioning. “Do the others know about this?”

“No,” Jemma says. “We love the others, but you’re  _ours_. In a way. Sort of.”

“None of them know you did this?”

“No,” Fitz confirmed. “We got up early. We didn’t even tell Coulson.”

May stays silent for a moment.

“Thank you,” she says quietly.

“We also have some things we’d like to say to you,” Jemma says.

The relatively pleasant expression that overtook May’s face disappears as quickly as it arrives. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“Oh, shall I put away the sonnet I composed?” Jemma says, and for a moment it’s hard to tell that she’s being cheeky. “We might not have to, but we want to.” She swats at Skye’s out-flung leg until she scrambles off the bed and stands so the three of them are in a line.

“Melinda May,” Fitz starts, a bit of awe suffusing his voice as he says her name. “Most legendary SHIELD agent in recent history.”

“Prefers to work behind the scenes so everything runs smoothly,” Jemma continues.

“But still bears the burden of every possible outcome. The burden of being the only one left standing,” Skye says seriously.

“You are great at what you do, and so often you are forced to make impossible choices,” Jemma says.

“But we want you to know that we understand, and we appreciate everything you do for us,” Skye says.

“Even that time you tried to shoot me,” Fitz says, which earns him a glare from Jemma, signaling he is going off-script, “You were doing it to help Coulson.”

“And all the times you lied to my face,” Skye chimes in, “you were doing it to protect me from things I wasn’t ready for.”

“And, well,” Jemma says thoughtfully. “You’ve never done anything bad to me. Because clearly I’m your favorite.” Then she grows serious, very serious. “But all the times you tried to talk me out of leaving…that was to protect me, too.”

There is a long still moment.

This is the first time the three of them have worked on something together in a long time. The three young agents. Unprepared for this life. Chosen by their hands with blind certainty that she and Phil could take care of them. They were rather wrong in that belief. Impossible trials have worn them over, rubbed away their newness. And yet, here they still are. The three of them. Together again. For her.

“So, we just wanted to say thank you,” Skye says quickly, trying to save it.

“I’m in so deep,” May says, and the words escape her quiet throat without her permission.

They all beam back.

May has too many words inside her to actually speak a single one of them, so she eats her toast and drinks her tea, and the kids sit on her bed and talk to each other as though nothing in the world is pressing weight down on them. And for a few minutes, they are all okay.


End file.
